


Yeth

by cxndymoon



Category: dinky dong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:22:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28081608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cxndymoon/pseuds/cxndymoon





	Yeth

The days are long.

That’s what one begins to think when you have aged as long as he has. The days are long. They grow longer and longer, merging until you can’t remember when one starts and when one ends. Everything becomes painfully infinite. The days. The world. Your memories. Just as with the time, you cannot tell where your memories begin, and where they end. Death is no longer a distinct pain in your heart, but the echo of what it should feel like.

He didn’t want her to be an echo. He tried, with every last breath, to hold onto how the pain felt. He wanted it to still feel real. But, the days were long, and just like stone, feelings erode over time. It was a testament to how cruel time is. Not just to humans, but to even the Gods themselves. 

The days are long. 

That’s what he was thinking when his gaze turned downwards towards the world below. All the people down there, so vibrant and full of life - a feeling he ached to acquire once more. He watched, as they scurried back and forth, as if their lives hinged on whatever menial task they were up to that day. They didn’t know how lucky they were. It was during that thought, that his eyes shifted once more, to the lonely shores of Liyue. And then, for the first time in what may have been thousands of years, his heart stopped in his chest. 

It was like watching a memory that had faded into dust. The long white hair, the soft, and equally fair complexion radiating against the sun. A woman, below, walking bare-foot along the shores felt as if she were a ghost to him. She did not look as perfect as the one in his mind. To him, it was the image of a goddess, hair silken and aura imposing. A woman who commanded not with her voice, but with her mind. The one who sacrificed their love, and her life, for the benefit of her people. That was what he remembered. But, at first glance, the girl one the shores was not that memory. No, no, she was… Dirty, in a way. Her long hair caked in sand, her clothes torn in various places. In all actuality, she was a small, messy, and decrepit human. And, yet, he could not look away. For hours, he could not look away. As she walked along the shore back towards the harbor, he watched as the sun slowly began to set, her hair turning golden against its rays. For the first time in a long time, the Geo Archon noticed that the day was coming to an end. 

The days are shortening.

Winter was coming to Liyue Harbor. Was this the first time he has noticed that as well? He had been watching her for so long - a behavior not befitting an archon. Her trips to the shores became less and less frequent as a chill descended in the air, and she held what little clothing she had tighter to her skin every time. He found himself thinking that he didn’t want to see her if it meant she would suffer so. Was this worry? Such a foreign thing to such an ancient being. 

As the weeks passed, her visits to the shores all but came to an end, and yet his thoughts of her persisted. That was when he made his decision. A decision that would finally put him on ground-level at Liyue Harbor - To go and find her. 

Yet, would it not be improper to visit a lady without a gift? He wasn’t too sure on what human customs were anymore. He found himself worried as he searched, that anything he found would not be able to appease such a woman. Although she had nothing, she held herself with a grace and composure that almost rivaled his. He did not want to disappoint her. It was at this moment, that very same breath, that he remembered. The one he loved, the one who originally had her face - There was one thing that always brought a smile to her lips. So, he began his search, picking every stray Glaze Lily he could find, silently praying that it would be the correct choice. 

And then, the day in question came. 

Sitting under the docks of Liyue, holding a small bowl of soup between her hands as her only source of warmth. As he had done so many times before, he watched her, as people passed her by, only giving small glances to the things she sold. The moment was there, right in his hand. To approach her, to tell her his name, to hear her voice for the first time. But, right when the moment came, his legs refused to move. His heart skipped a beat, and his breath hitched in his throat. And, just like that, the moment was gone. She finished her soup, stood, and made her way back towards the top-side, never even noticing the Archon that stood only a few meters away. That was that. Fate had decided. For all the wars he had won, and for all the things he had created, the Archon was nailed in place by the presence of one, frail human. After she had gone, he placed the lilies on her cart, and returned to his home in the skies, not once attempting to find her again. The next day he watched, as her eyes lit up at the sight of the lilies, as she frantically searched the docks for the mysterious donor. How he longed to return and say, “It was me.” But, he couldn’t. All he could do was watch. The day had ended. And, as dusk turned to night, and the girl made her way to sleep, there was only one thought present in his mind:  
One day, I would like to be human too.


End file.
